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D.5. Installing Ubuntu using PPP over Ethernet (PPPoE)
In some countries PPP over Ethernet (PPPoE) is a common protocol for broadband (ADSL or cable) connections to an Internet Service Provider. Setting up a network connection using PPPoE is not supported by default in the installer, but can be made to work very simply. This section explains how.
The PPPoE connection set up during the installation will also be available after the reboot into the installed system (see Chapter 7).
To have the option of setting up and using PPPoE during the installation, you will need to install using one of the CD-ROM/DVD images that are available. It is not supported for other installation methods (e.g. netboot).
Installing over PPPoE is mostly the same as any other installation. The following steps explain the differences.
• Boot the installer with the boot parameter modules=ppp-udeb. This will ensure the component responsible for the setup of PPPoE (ppp-udeb) will be loaded and run automatically.
• Follow the regular initial steps of the installation (language, country and keyboard selection; the loading of additional installer components3).
• The next step is the detection of network hardware, in order to identify any Ethernet cards present in the system.
• After this the actual setup of PPPoE is started. The installer will probe all the detected Ethernet interfaces in an attempt to find a PPPoE concentrator (a type of server which handles PPPoE con- nections).
It is possible that the concentrator will not to be found at the first attempt. This can happen occa- sionally on slow or loaded networks or with faulty servers. In most cases a second attempt to detect the concentrator will be successful; to retry, select Configure and start a PPPoE connection from the main menu of the installer.
• After a concentrator is found, the user will be prompted to type the login information (the PPPoE username and password).
• At this point the installer will use the provided information to establish the PPPoE connection. If the correct information was provided, the PPPoE connection should be configured and the installer should be able to use it to connect to the Internet and retrieve packages over it (if needed). If the login information is not correct or some error appears, the installer will stop, but the configuration can be attempted again by selecting the menu entry Configure and start a PPPoE connection.
3. The ppp-udeb component is loaded as one of the additional components in this step. If you want to install at medium or low priority (expert mode), you can also manually select the ppp-udeb instead of entering the “modules” parameter at the boot prompt.